Cuncordu E Tenore De Orosei

Cuncordu E Tenore De Orosei

Cuncordu E Tenore De Orosei is a Sardinian vocal group from Orosei, also known as Cuncordu De Orosei and Tenore De Orosei. The group works with two traditional singing techniques from its home town: a cuncordu, used for sacred song, and a tenore, used for secular song. Its repertoire includes traditional dance accompaniments, love serenades, gotzos in the Sardinian language, and older religious songs.

Origins and style

The singers are shaped by two local contexts: the religious fraternities Sas Animas, Santa Rughe and Su Rosariu, and the tzilleris, or bars. Training in the fraternities teaches the holy style, while the bars teach the profane one. Orosei is presented as one of the few towns in Sardinia where both vocal traditions continue over time.

Recordings and collaborations

The group expands beyond traditional forms through collaboration with other musicians. Colla Voche, published in 2009, is made with violinist Ernst Reijseger and drummer and percussionist Alan Purves, and is described as an early example of a fusion between traditional and contemporary music in the group’s work. Another important collaboration is with the German producer linked to a German label, which leads to four albums: Amore Profundhu, Miserere, the reissue known as Voches de Sardinna, Colla Voche and Requiem for a dying planet.

Stage work, film projects and concerts

From 2004, the group presents a musical version of Tamburini on tour, based on work by writer Marcello Fois and featuring songs and sounds from Sardinia. In the same period, it takes part in Il rito e la memoria, a concert project by Paolo Fresu that includes Diederick Wissels, Alborada, Cuncordu from Castelsardo, Cuncordu 'e Su Rosariu from Santu Lussurgiu, Elena Ledda and Dhafer Youssef, and is promoted by the Musica dei Cieli festival in Milan.

In June 2004, the group records in Paris an unreleased ensemble soundtrack for Werner Herzog’s films The Wild Blue Yonder and The White Diamond, with Ernst Reijseger and the Senegalese singer Mola Sylla. The Wild Blue Yonder is also shown at the Venice Biennale and wins the critics award. From 2006, the group performs the cine-concert Requiem for a dying planet, a combination of material from those two films, and presents it in Italy and across Europe, including Ferrara, Pordenone, Sassari, Milan, Helsinki, Lörrach and Krems.

Other collaborations and appearances

The group also collaborates with musicians including Vittorio Montis, Riccardo Dapelo and Andrea Saba, and with Enzo Favata on the early project Voyage en Sardaigne. Its performances include concerts and festivals in cities such as Paris, Calvi, Marseille, Munich, Frankfurt, Turin, Venice, Florence, Toledo, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Antwerp, Lyon, Fundão, Ajaccio, Saalfelden, Groningen, Utrecht, Stuttgart, Berchidda, Lausanne, Leipzig, Bolzano, Milan and Brescia. Among its notable improvised appearances are a performance with Voci Bulgare Angelite at the Konzerthaus in Berlin and another with Huun-Huur-Tu from Tuva at RIAS Kammerchor.